Her intentions were clear as day, and Ye Qiu could see right through them. This was the brother-in-law she fancied, and she could not allow her to snatch him away.
"Aunt Wang, it’s getting dark and you still haven’t gone back to cook? When Ye Ming returns in a while, he’s going to have sothing to say about it." This was no bluff from Ye Qiu; as the eldest son of the village chief, Ye Ming had a temper that was not to be taken lightly. There was an incident before when he lost his temper because Ye Wangshi’s cooking was late and not to his taste, causing great embarrassnt to Ye Wangshi.
Although Ye Qiu’s teasing made Ye Wangshi sowhat furious, she had no choice but to return ho, for there were several ancestors waiting to be fed!
"Huh..." Seeing the person leaving, Wang Zhaoxing breathed a sigh of relief.
Ye Qiu sneered coldly: "You better be careful in the future and stay away from Ye i of the village chief’s family. I reckon after failing to target Xiuya and , she has set her sights on you."
"What? She ca here with the intention to target Xiuya?" Wang Zhaoxing beca anxious, good at picking up the key points.
"It’s nothing serious; I rejected her. What brings you here today?" Since Wang Zhaoxing had beco a Scholar, he was no longer studying in the sa school as Ye Qiu, and with only a few months left until the Imperial Examination, he should be very busy.
"Oh, I ca to deliver this." Saying so, Wang Zhaoxing took out a stack of questions from previous Provincial Examinations with explanations on how to answer such questions, "These are summarized by the academy near the State Mansion. Thinking it might be useful to Brother Ye Qiu, I copied a set."
Ye Qiu gratefully accepted it: "You are thoughtful."
Wang Zhaoxing, rarely praised by Ye Qiu, scratched his head embarrassedly: "It’s nothing, I’m just doing what I should."
Speaking of fortune, Ye Qiu was lucky that the Provincial Examination was shortly after the mourning period ended, otherwise he would have had to wait another year. He was seventeen this year, but still a child student. He couldn’t afford to fail either this year’s Provincial Examination or next year’s Imperial Examination. If he had to wait for the next Imperial Examination cycle, it could be another three years or even longer. By then, his two younger sisters would have grown up as well; did he truly want them to marry country folks?
It wasn’t that country folk were bad, but it was true that no village wife had maids or servants. He wasn’t willing to see his sisters facing a life of harsh farm labor, with their faces toward the soil and their backs to the sky.
Hence, for the happiness of his sisters, he needed to put in even more effort.
While Ye Qiu was diligently studying on this side, on the other side Ye Wangshi shared her day’s thoughts with her father-in-law and husband, and both n fell into deep contemplation.
"This is indeed a good match, but the Wang family are newcors and have never been close to us. We don’t know if the Wang family may have other intentions," Ye Baomin said, taking a puff from his dry pipe.
Ye Wangshi beca anxious and quickly said, "Dad, you are the village chief. If you speak to them, will they still refuse?"
"You don’t understand," Ye Baomin glanced at his daughter-in-law, "Wang Zhaoxing is already a Scholar, and their family has behaved honorably without giving anyone a handle to work with in recent years. What’s the use of talking? What does a village chief count for?"
"So we just let it be?" Ye Ming said unwillingly.
"Of course not," Ye Baomin revealed a aningful smile, "We’ll start with a gentle approach and resort to force if necessary. If the Wang family truly does not appreciate the situation, we’ll take so special asures. Scholars dread having their reputations tarnished the most. If Ye i’s reputation is ruined by him, he will have to marry her whether he likes it or not."
"Wouldn’t that make us enemies? Isn’t that also not very good for ii?" Ye Wangshi said hesitantly.
"What do won of the household know?" Ye Baomin spoke coldly, "Can’t you teach your daughter how to charm people’s hearts? Once she enters the bridal chamber, which man will still care so much? If you manage to birth a son and retain your spousal relationship, given the child, the Wang family wouldn’t treat Ye i too badly."
"Dad, you really think things through." Ye Ming said joyfully.
Ye Wangshi felt belittled by her own father-in-law’s words, but upon hearing more, she found his argunt imnsely reasonable, and the shadows in her heart disappeared in an instant. She felt as if she could already see herself adorned in gold and silver, served by maids and housekeepers. She no longer wanted to live this miserable life!
Ye i should have been in her own boudoir but for so reason, she stood outside the door at that mont, hearing the conversation between her grandfather and parents. A flicker of secret delight crossed her face. Could it be that she was finally going to marry Wang Zhaoxing?
In fact, Ye i had liked Wang Zhaoxing for a long ti, but because he was preoccupied with studies, he was rarely at ho, and on his ho visits, he was always in a hurry. Thus, aside from their childhood, she hadn’t spoken a word to him since they grew up.
But this did not stop Ye i from liking him. Every ti she saw him dressed in scholar’s attire, her heart would flutter uncontrollably. She had thought herself unworthy of him, but now that her grandfather and parents spoke with such finality, Ye i started to feel confident, treating Wang Zhaoxing as if he were already in the bag.
She was going to be his bride and indeed, it was a matter to rejoice!
Ye Qiu had never anticipated that his words would actually turn prophetic; Ye Baomin was hell-bent on employing any ans to make Wang Zhaoxing his granddaughter’s husband.
Taking advantage of Wang Zhaoxing being at ho, the next day Ye Baomin took his eldest family mber to Wang Po’s house. Wang Po was a widow, and when she first moved to this village, she was shunned by the villagers. If not for Ye Qiu’s grandparents’ assistance then, it would have been hard for her to hold up alone in this village. After Ye Qiu’s father passed away, his family also provided her considerable help.
Regrettably, in the previous life, after Wang Zhaoxing beca a scholar, his family moved to the State Mansion, and by the ti they learned of Ye Qiu’s family’s misfortune, the tragedy had already occurred.
Luckily in this life, they were fated, and Wang Zhaoxing took a liking to Xiuya. His family wouldn’t disdain Xiuya for being orphaned, hence both parties had tacitly agreed to the strategic marriage, waiting only for the end of the mourning period before formalizing the engagent and wedding.
Therefore, the village chief’s family’s arrival was much to Wang Po’s displeasure – in her heart, the granddaughter-in-law was to be Xiuya, and no one else could replace her.
Regrettably, this family refused to give up. Despite her secret rejections many tis, they still ca knocking.
"The village chief has arrived, please have a seat," Wang Po said with a forced laugh on her face, her heart filled with annoyance. They only ca now that they saw Wang Zhaoxing was about to be successful – when she moved here in the early years, she had never seen such a pleasing expression from their family.
"You’re too polite, where’s Wang Yang? How co I don’t see him?" Ye Baomin sat down in the host’s seat without hesitation – it was a habit he had since becoming the village chief, yet he never considered whether it was inappropriate for an outsider to sit there directly.
"He and his wife have gone into the county and haven’t returned," Wang Po sat down without inviting Ye Ming and Ye Wangshi.
The little grandson was fully devoted to his studies, while the older grandson, having no such talent, followed in his father’s footsteps as a peddler from an early age. In recent years, having saved so money, he set up a shop in the county. When business was busy, Wang Yang and Wang Xiangshi, the couple, both went to help, thus only Wang Po and Wang Zhaoxing were at ho today.
Hearing Wang Po say this, Ye Baomin frowned – he did not wish to deal with a woman. In his heart, a woman like Wang Po could not decide for Wang Zhaoxing, so a trace of displeasure appeared on his face, feeling as if his trip was wasted.
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